The Mishkan, Marriage, and the UFC

Exodus 35:1
And Moses gathered all the congregation...
 Moses gathered men, women, and children together to hear the Torah. We all suffer as a result of each other's wickedness, but every individual is responsible for his own obedience to God. A man cannot be held responsible for his wife's sins, nor can a woman be held responsible for her husband's. He is responsible for how he loves and leads his wife, and she is responsible for how she respects and obeys her husband.

Exodus 35:5
...whosoever is of a willing heart... God invited every individual man, woman, and child to donate the materials of the Tabernacle: the metals, fabrics, oil, spices, and gems, all of the things that, together, symbolize a complete and balanced child of God. They also symbolize the roles of husband, wife, and children in a family. God wanted free-will offerings, because he does not force us to become the people he wants us to be.

A man cannot be forced to love his wife; he must choose to love her. She can manipulate him and cajole him, but the result is not real love. It is form without substance. Likewise, a woman cannot be forced to submit to her husband's rule. A man can certainly try to force his wife to submit, but he will fail. He can beat her, threaten her, or manipulate her, but he will never have true submission from the heart. Either she will resist to the point at which he is no longer willing to keep her as his wife or else she will become someone else, someone much less than the woman he married.

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